Hot Potato: Pass On the Diplomatic Letter

By Eleanor Warnock and Kwanwoo Jun

Both Japan and South Korea want sovereignty over a pair of disputed islands that lie between them, but the latest development in their continuing diplomatic spat showed there is one thing neither wants on its hands: a letter sent from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

South Korean President Lee Myung bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in happier days, meeting in Seoul in March

The letter in question was delivered to the South Korean embassy in Tokyo last week. According to Yonhap news agency, it expressed Japan’s regret over recent actions by the Korean leader that have strained ties between the two countries. Thursday, South Korea tried to give it back.

Tensions between the two countries have mounted since Mr. Lee visited the contested islands—known as Takeshima by Japan, Dokdo by South Korea, and the Liancourt Rocks by the U.S. and other nations not party to the dispute—on Aug. 10. Japan was further irked when Mr. Lee said a few days later that the emperor of Japan should apologize for Koreans killed fighting the Japanese.